Political Forum, Live Political Chat and Blogs discussing political and social issues. - Other Countrieshttps://www.politicspoliticalforum.com/
enFri, 22 Feb 2019 02:55:29 GMTvBulletin800https://politicspoliticalforum.com/images/misc/rss.pngPolitical Forum, Live Political Chat and Blogs discussing political and social issues. - Other Countrieshttps://www.politicspoliticalforum.com/
Man up.https://politicspoliticalforum.com/threads/37806-Man-up?goto=newpost
Mon, 18 Feb 2019 01:31:41 GMTReports on SKY news about junior Dr’s in Australia working crazy overtime.
Isn’t this the norm for certain trades? I know I’ve done stupid hours week on week to get the job done so why is it that if you’re in the Police, NHS (Australia in this...

Reports on SKY news about junior Dr’s in Australia working crazy overtime.
Isn’t this the norm for certain trades? I know I’ve done stupid hours week on week to get the job done so why is it that if you’re in the Police, NHS (Australia in this case) or any other civil service job you’re a Marta? I never see the owner of your local corner shop who is doing 7am TIL 11pm shouting the odds. I know the NHS do a fantastic job but so does Mr xxxxx down the road.

]]>Other CountriesNickhttps://politicspoliticalforum.com/threads/37806-Man-upWhat threatens Lithuania in 2019https://politicspoliticalforum.com/threads/37785-What-threatens-Lithuania-in-2019?goto=newpost
Fri, 15 Feb 2019 08:39:16 GMTAs we know, National security Threat Assessment by the state security Department of the Republic of Lithuania (VsD) and the second investigation Department under the Ministry of national Defence (AOTD) has been presented to the public last week in...

As we know, National security Threat Assessment by the state security Department of the Republic of Lithuania (VsD) and the second investigation Department under the Ministry of national Defence (AOTD) has been presented to the public last week in accordance with the Articles 8 and 26 of the law on intelligence of the Republic of Lithuania.The document provides consolidated, unclassified assessment of threats and risks to national security of the Republic of Lithuania prepared by both intelligence services. The assessment assesses events, processes and trends that make the biggest influence on national security situation in the Republic of Lithuania. Based on them and considering the long-term trends affecting national security, the document provides the assessment of major challenges that the Lithuanian national security is to face in the near term (2019–2020).In general, Lithuanian intelligence agencies have produced a security report claiming that Russia threatens the country in numerous ways, from a possible military incursion to promoting a positive image of itself (“propaganda”). The Kremlin called the report an example of “hysterical Russophobia.”Thus, the main threat in the field of cyber security for Lithuania is called “Russian special services”, which, according to the Lithuanian side, “collect information and disrupt the work of IT systems.”One of the main goals of the “Russian special services”, in accordance with VsD and AOTD, is the elections in Lithuania, which will take place this year. The Lithuanians will elect the local authorities in spring, as well as the president, and then they will vote for representatives to the European Parliament. Moscow allegedly could “try to influence the elections to the Seimas in 2020.”Over and above the report branded as Russia’s “aggressive foreign policy,” mentioned less tangible threats to Lithuania. One of them is the Belarusian nuclear power plant (BelAES) project, which involves the construction of two reactors near the town of Ostrovets, some about 50km from the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius.At the same time, China was included in the list of threats. According to the annual report, Beijing along with Moscow, allegedly floods Lithuania with spies seeks access to classified information. In essence, only one thing is said – China seeks to ensure that Vilnius will not support the independence of Tibet and Taiwan and will not raise this issue at the international level.It is obvious that Western countries are trying to use the “Russian threat” as a cover for the fulfillment of their own plans, particularly, for tightening arms and NATO forces to Russian borders.For this purpose, a special conditions are created in the EU countries and in the USA. In these countries, the media and politicians give out false or distorted facts about Russia for the truth. The same situation is also observed in the Baltic countries, including Lithuania.Furthermore, Vilnius arranges a “witch hunt” and persecutes all those who disagree with the official point of view. And nobody cares that such actions violate human rights and freedoms and fundamental democratic values, such as freedom of speech, non-interference in private life, protection of the rights and freedoms of an individual.It’s no wonder that Moscow was seeking for good relations with the Baltic nations but this intention was not reciprocated. Constantly talking about the contrived “plans of Moscow to attack the Baltic States”, Vilnius is doing everything to spread fear among citizens towards Russia. Apparently, some political actors in Lithuania are interested in the permanent presence of the “Russian threat.” And ordinary Lithuanians have nothing left to do but believe it…

After the Catalans refused to support the budget the government are folding and Pedro Sanchez will have to call elections on April 14th or 28th.
The "Podemos" (We can) party did rise as a populist party, but has recently suffered a collapse in its support base.
The VOX party, who are certainly right wing are likely to win many seats for the first time. They are likely to form a coalition with the PP who are the conservatives in Spain.
There are moves to return abortion laws to how they were years ago, apparently because politicians on the right think Spanish women are not having enough babies.

What has actually happened is that young people in Spain have used free movement to get jobs abroad, mostly in the UK and Germany, as youth unemployment in Spain is high and pay is low. So Spain keeps employing foreign immigrants to pick strawberries for £10 a day in Huelva.

Pedro Sanchez will have been in shaky power for about 9 months and is unlikely to be seen as PM again in Spain.

]]>Other CountriesBarryhttps://politicspoliticalforum.com/threads/37773-Spain-general-election-in-AprilEurope has changed its maskhttps://politicspoliticalforum.com/threads/37752-Europe-has-changed-its-mask?goto=newpost
Tue, 12 Feb 2019 14:04:35 GMT“Face” of peaceful and friendly Europe has changed. Europe even does not try any more to wear a mask of past tolerance. Tensions are constantly increasing. Unrest like wildfire is sweeping across Europe. Though riots caused by different events and...

“Face” of peaceful and friendly Europe has changed. Europe even does not try any more to wear a mask of past tolerance. Tensions are constantly increasing. Unrest like wildfire is sweeping across Europe. Though riots caused by different events and decisions, political convulsions make Europeans feel uncomfortable. People are tired of being unheard by the authorities.Misunderstanding between ordinary people and authorities is more clearly visible, especially in the so-called “old Europe”. Once prosperous countries, France and Italy, actively resist the new world order. Social instability, deterioration of living standards on the background of militarization has led to unprecedented unrest. All attempts to reduce tensions have not brought about results.Democracy has plaid a dirty trick with all of us. Freedom allows people to go on the streets and introduce their position. On the other hand, delegated powers give the authorities the possibility to “calm” the riots, to suspend the activities, to ban meetings, even using police.French political movement for economic justice, the so-called “yellow vests”, went beyond the country and caused diplomatic crisis between France and Italy.German workers also expressed solidarity with “yellow vest” protests in France. Workers in Germany share the same grievances and recognize they also confront policies that favour the rich.Another irritating thing is militarization of the region, NATO expansion. Many Europeans link the fact of increasing national defence expenditures with deterioration of life. That is why anti-NATO and anti-war campaigns on the Internet gain momentum. Among them are: no-to-nato.network, notonato.org, no2nato2019.org, popularresistance.org/no-to-nato-spring-actions-in-washington-dc. The more so, “Stopp Air Base Ramstein” campaign in Germany started October 5th, 2008, gains more popularity and organizes protests in Germany and abroad. It has its representatives in the US, Austria, Australia, Poland, Ireland, France, Japan and the UK. The international network No to War – No to NATO calls for broad actions against NATO in Washington DC and worldwide.The next occasion for such organizations to become more active is the signing an agreement with Macedonia on February, 6 allowing the country to become the military alliance’s 30th member. This particular step could become the catalyzer for more violent protests and political disobedience. It brings chaos to Europe, raises tensions and leads to the loss of trust in Peace and Democracy.https://balticword.eu/europe-has-changed-its-mask/

Helin Newroz Boztosun is a 23-year-old history and English graduate living in London. The following are excerpts from her March 20, 2018 article headlined "The Massacres and Oppression of the Kurds in 20th Century Turkey".

(Begin excerpts)
The 20th century was one of the most destructive eras in Kurdish history. While you may be aware of the current Kurdish-Turkish conflict, such as Turkey’s recent attacks on Afrin, Syria, most of you probably don’t know of their historical campaigns against the Kurds, and other minorities for that matter, until now. Although my focus here is the brutality that Kurds have suffered since the birth of modern Turkey, especially during the Zeylân and Dersim massacres, it’s worth mentioning that the Kurdish-Turkish conflict actually emerged during the Ottoman Empire.

....Rather than accepting the Kurds as a separate ethnic group, Atatürk’s government denied their existence – labelling them ‘mountain Turks’ instead – and sought to systematically ‘Turkify’ the Kurds through forced assimilation and official prohibition of their culture, such as the banning of Kurdish schools, organisations and publications in 1924. It is perhaps these words of Turkey’s Minister of Justice, Mahmut Bozkurt, reported in the Milliyet newspaper dated 19th September 1930, that best reflects the attitude of the government towards Kurds and other minorities:

‘The Turks are the only lords of this country, its only owners. Those who are not of pure Turkish stock have in this country only one right, that of being servants, of being slaves. Let friend and foe, and even the mountains know this truth.’...

In July 1930, Turkish forces began their ethnic cleansing of the Zeylân valley, targeting not only rebels but all Kurds. The region was showered with firebombs by air forces and surrounded by thousands of Turkish soldiers, trapping the Kurds there. Men, women and children were all slaughtered, regardless of age. The government’s intentions were made clear beyond doubt in a report by the Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet, dated 13th July 1930:

‘Cleaning started: those in the Zeylân valley have been completely exterminated. Not one of them survived. The operation in Ağri continues.’

There are various eyewitness accounts of the massacre from surviving Kurds and Turkish soldiers who were involved. Collectively, these accounts detail how the soldiers had shot, stabbed, beaten, and burnt to death thousands of Kurds; how they had cut open pregnant women and removed their unborn babies; how they had skinned villagers alive; and how thousands more were killed by machine gun fire, causing blood to flow out of the valley for days. Many of the surviving Kurds had hidden under corpses during the massacre. At least 44 villages had been burned to the ground and between 15,000 and 47,000 Kurds had been killed or disappeared, according to local and official sources. At the end of the massacre, the Zeylân valley was ‘filled to the mouth with corpses,’ as the Cumhuriyet announced on 16th July 1930. By mid-September that year, the Ararat Rebellion had been crushed and the young Kurdish Republic of Ararat was disbanded....

As I mentioned in the intro, it was the Turkish government’s aim to assimilate (Turkify) the Kurds, as well as other minorities, into Turkish culture and entirely destroy the Kurdish identity. To that end, Kurdish language, folklore and dress had been banned, along with the words ‘Kurd’ and ‘Kurdistan.’ On top of this, the government passed the Resettlement Law and the Surname Law in June 1934. Essentially, the Resettlement Law allowed for the destruction of Kurdish villages and migration of their inhabitants to areas of the country in which Turkish culture and language was predominant, where they would be forced to integrate; the Surname Law banned the use of non-Turkish surnames and demanded that the Kurds adopt Turkish surnames. Dispersing millions of Kurds as the government saw fit was an ambitious plan, and one that mostly failed because it was unrealistic in practice. The collective measures that were employed for the purpose of Turkification were, as can be expected, met with much resistance. The most defiant region was Dersim, an area that the government had previously failed to exert greater control over on several occasions. It had, by now, attracted most of their attention.....

The Turkish army, with over 50,000 troops, slaughtered men, women and children indiscriminately yet again. Bombs were dropped from the skies and entire villages were burned down and destroyed. The grounds where homes once stood were burnt with kerosene so that they could not be returned to. Families that escaped and hid in caves were killed en masse with chemical weapons, or with the burning of wood at cave entrances to suffocate them. If these measures didn’t work, the caves were demolished with explosives or sealed up, leaving those trapped in there to die. Many girls and women were tortured and raped, and others had avoided capture by throwing themselves off of cliffs. Those who surrendered were gathered together; the men were shot on the spot while women and children were locked in hay sheds that were then set on fire. Even young men from Dersim who were off doing their military service in the Turkish army were killed.... (End excerpts)

P.S. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder and first president of the Republic of Turkey, led Turkish nationalists in the Turkish War of Independence (1919-1923). He rejected the Treaty of Sèvres (1920) which was replaced by the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923. Unlike the former treaty, the latter made no mention of an independent Kurdish state.

]]>Other Countriesreedakhttps://politicspoliticalforum.com/threads/37732-Massacres-and-Oppression-of-Kurds-in-TurkeyEverything Trump has ever said about Pakistanhttps://politicspoliticalforum.com/threads/37666-Everything-Trump-has-ever-said-about-Pakistan?goto=newpost
Mon, 04 Feb 2019 12:16:46 GMTTrump has been criticised in the past for using Twitter to attack foreign governments, without, at times, taking his advisers or administration into confidence. Barbed comments have been tweeted at North Korea, China and Iran, amongst others. Trump...

Trump has been criticised in the past for using Twitter to attack foreign governments, without, at times, taking his advisers or administration into confidence. Barbed comments have been tweeted at North Korea, China and Iran, amongst others. Trump is also famously known to seesaw in his perspectives and opinions.

'They do nothing for us'

Trump's most recent tweets about Pakistan came on November 19, when he alleged that Pakistan "would take our money and do nothing for us.""....We no longer pay Pakistan the $Billions because they would take our money and do nothing for us, Bin Laden being a prime example, Afghanistan being another. They were just one of many countries that take from the United States without giving anything in return. That’s ENDING!" the US president tweeted.

'Better relationship'

Late last year, after a US-Canadian couple and their children were rescued by the Pakistan security forces, Trump thanked the country for its cooperation.

'Valued Partner'

In 2017, eight months after being elected the president of the United States, in a broad interview to the New York Times, Trump called Pakistan a “valued partner” but castigated it for harbouring criminals and terrorist."We can no longer be silent about Pakistan’s safe havens for terrorist organizations, the Taliban and other groups that pose a threat to the region and beyond.""Pakistan has much to gain from partnering with our effort in Afghanistan. It has much to lose by continuing to harbour criminals and terrorists. In the past, Pakistan has been a valued partner."

'Best friends'

The same year, in an interview to The Hindustan Times, Trump said he was willing to play a mediatory role between arch-rivals India and Pakistan.“Well, I would love to see Pakistan and India get along, because that’s a very, very hot tinderbox... That would be a very great thing. I hope they can do it.”A few days later, speaking at an event organized by the Republican Hindu Coalition event, he said that India and the United States are “going to be best friends.” Further adding: “There isn't going to be any relationship more important to us."

]]>Other CountriesMaggihttps://politicspoliticalforum.com/threads/37666-Everything-Trump-has-ever-said-about-PakistanSpain - Migrants welcome - not any morehttps://politicspoliticalforum.com/threads/37630-Spain-Migrants-welcome-not-any-more?goto=newpost
Wed, 30 Jan 2019 19:26:25 GMTPedro Sanchez government thought they were being clever and compassionate welcoming migrants (aka illegal immigrants) on a ship called Aquarius.
https://elpais.com/elpais/2019/01/28/inenglish/1548672833_325170.html
Now they have decided that...

Pedro Sanchez government thought they were being clever and compassionate welcoming migrants (aka illegal immigrants) on a ship called Aquarius.

Now they have decided that it's not such a good idea, as the EU have no proper immigration policy.

]]>Other CountriesBarryhttps://politicspoliticalforum.com/threads/37630-Spain-Migrants-welcome-not-any-moreSocial uncertainty weakens Latviahttps://politicspoliticalforum.com/threads/37621-Social-uncertainty-weakens-Latvia?goto=newpost
Tue, 29 Jan 2019 13:18:49 GMTThelatest data of the Central Statistical Bureau (CSB) show that at thebeginning of 2018 population of Latvia accounted for 1 million 934thousand, which is 15.7 thousand people fewer than a year ago.
Anothersurveyconducted in 2018 by the CSB,shows...

Thelatest data of the Central Statistical Bureau (CSB) show that at thebeginning of 2018 population of Latvia accounted for 1 million 934thousand, which is 15.7 thousand people fewer than a year ago. Anothersurveyconducted in 2018 by the CSB,shows that the share of Latvia’s population exposed to the risk ofpoverty grew by 1.2 percentage points from a year before to 446,000people.CSBrepresentatives said that the monthly at-risk-of-poverty thresholdwent up to EUR 367 per one-person household (EUR 330 monthly in2016). In households consisting of two adults with two children agedunder 14 years the monthly at-risk-of-poverty threshold reached EUR770 in 2017(EUR 694 in 2016).

Drystatistics hides awful things. One forth of the population that isabout 400 thousand can’t enjoy a normal life. According to thesurvey, the worst situation is in Latgale where 39.2 percent ofresidents live at-risk-of-poverty.

Thestriking fact is the largest at-risk-of-poverty rate fixed in largefamilies (couples with three or more children) (20.5 percent). Paradoxically how could a European state allow its children tostarve and deprive of hope for basic needs, such as food, clothes andgood education. The conclusion is disappointing: depriving people ofhope for normal life, the state authorities deprive Latvia of future.Thus, there is nothing surprising in population outflow.

Whatdoes all this mean? It means that Latvians are so poor, that theycan’t think about something but food. They can’t be fully engagedin political, cultural or other spheres of life. They are not capableto support their children or parents. They exist, not live. That isprobably the main reason for Latvians’ political apathy.

Otherwisehow to explain the protracted process of government formation,social problems. The only sphere that flourishes is defence.Latvia is one of a handful of NATO countries that spends 2 percent on defence with more than 20 other members missing that goal.Thus, the government increases the defence spendings but does not pay enough attention to social problems.

Isit not a normalstate of affairs. The result may be devastating: there will be modernmilitary vehicles and equipment, but will be no one to serve in thearmed forces. Poor people have no desire to defend their poverty,they have NOTHING to defend.

]]>Other Countriesviktorshttps://politicspoliticalforum.com/threads/37621-Social-uncertainty-weakens-LatviaThe EU: More united than ever (El País)https://politicspoliticalforum.com/threads/37607-The-EU-More-united-than-ever-(El-País)?goto=newpost
Sun, 27 Jan 2019 15:13:28 GMTWorth a read, although I did note they have already reduced the number of countries in the EU to 27!
https://elpais.com/elpais/2019/01/24/inenglish/1548339512_044777.html
El País truth or propaganda?
Is the EU more united than ever?